About me

Hello. I have over 20 years experience as a counsellor and therapist.I am here to help you, my speciality is anxiety and depression. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you think you could benefit from talking to someone about what is troubling you.

I am an experienced BABCP accredited and UKCP registered psychotherapist When we meet my first aim is to help you feel at ease, then for us to understand together what is causing the problems. We will then work together, drawing on your knowledge of yourself and my experience and knowledge of psychology and philosophy.

My training includes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Existential Therapy and Philosophical Counselling as well as my range of life experience including being a published author of 2 books, being a parent and graduating with a first-class degree from Oxford University.

Amongst the problems I can help you with are :

Anxiety

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Depression

Worry

Stress

Relationship issues

Perfectionism

Low self-esteem

Decision-making

Social Anxiety

Performance Anxiety

Wanting to lead a more satisfying life

procrastination

Low self-confidence

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Generalised anxiety

Couples counselling

Anger management

Panic attacks

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

This list is not exhaustive, but it gives some idea of the sort of problems I have helped people with before.

How can counselling help?

Counselling is the one place where we can explore our issues in a way we can't on our own or with friends. I offer the opportunity to first of all understand your problem in a new way and then to explore new ways of breaking old patterns of thinking and behaviour. In such a way counselling is no a "quick-fix" but a profound exploration of our response to life and how we can improve it. My own background and experience allows me to draw on a range of ideas from psychology and philosophy to help you achieve your goals and solve your problems.

If you are interested in getting help with any of these problems, please feel free to contact me now. Please note I only work face-to-face.

Training, qualifications & experience

About Me

I originally studied at Oxford University, where I gained a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). Back in the 1990s I studied psychotherapy and counselling at Regents College where I specialised in existential psychotherapy. Later I drew on this experience to write my first book Wise Therapy (Continuum, 2001) which describes how philosophy can be of use to the counsellor. More recently still, I returned to Oxford where I undertook advanced training in Cognitive Therapy and gained a distinction in the highly-regarded Msc level diploma from OCTC.

How my Experience Can Help You

This background allows me to bring a broad range of experience and ideas to my practice. I know how to help you using the evidence-based methods for anxiety and depression. I am also sensitive to questions of meaning, purpose and values. My specific areas of expertise include difficulties in decision-making and low self-esteem. I also work with anxiety problems including stress, worry, panic attacks and obsessions and also help those suffering from low mood and depression. I started seeing clients for counselling and psychotherapy back in 1995 and so have many years experience. I was one of the main figures in this country in helping use philosophy for the purposes of counselling, which I have done since the late 1990s. More recently I have trained in other approaches including the Human Givens Approach and advanced training in CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and mindfulness-based CBT approaches. I am also a founder member of the Modern Stoicism Project, aimed at providing an evidence-base and disseminating ideas about Stoicism and ancient philosophy.

As well as my private practice I also work part-time in the NHS as a psychotherapist. I am also a lecturer and trainer in psychotherapy and counselling. I very much enjoy offering supervision to other counsellors and psychotherapists especially those wanting to develop their CBT skills.